By Key Points
- James Wynn lost $87M on Hyperliquid in 5 days
- Anonymous ETH whale wiped out $308M in March 2025
- Chinese trader Hui Yi took his life after 100x BTC loss
- Extreme leverage turns small moves into huge losses
Crypto trading gone wrong is a phrase that rings true for many traders. The promise of life-changing gains draws them in, but leverage can quickly turn fortune into disaster. When markets move fast, millions can vanish in seconds.
From Bitcoin (BTC) to Ethereum (ETH), we’ve seen traders take outsized risks in hopes of big rewards. But as we’ll see, leverage works both ways — it can amplify gains, but also lead to crushing losses.
Here are three cautionary tales of crypto traders who bet big and lost bigger.
James Wynn turned $87M profit into dust on Hyperliquid
James Wynn was once the star of crypto Twitter (now X), thanks to his wild run on Hyperliquid. In just 70 days, the pseudonymous trader turned bold, high-leverage bets into $87 million in profit.
Since I began trading this year on HyperLiquid I have made a total profit of $41,696,589.75 (on-chain).
Since as long as I can remember I wanted to be a millionaire, then once I got to the million status I realized it’s really not much at all. (A million is scared money, nearly… pic.twitter.com/tEBVuQTyvI
— James Wynn (@JamesWynnReal) May 9, 2025
His strategy? Aggressive 40x leverage, huge risk, and fearless execution.
On May 9, Wynn posted:
“Next goal is $1bn. Not for the money. But for the legacy.”
His top trades included:
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$25.18M profit on kPEPE
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$16.89M profit on Bitcoin
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$6.83M profit on Official Trump token
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$4.84M profit on Fartcoin
But the wins soon gave way to steep losses. By late May, Wynn’s trades started unraveling:
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$15.86M loss shorting BTC
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$3.69M loss on ETH long
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$1.59M loss on SUI
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$37.41M loss on BTC long
“It took him 70 days to make $87M+ and just 5 days to lose it all,” Lookonchain reported.
By June 5, Wynn had lost nearly all his gains. He posted: “I closed my position. Defeat accepted.”
James Wynn(@JamesWynnReal) has wiped out almost all his profits on #Hyperliquid.
It took him 70 days to go from 0 to $87M+ in profit, and only 5 days to lose almost all the $87M+ in profit.https://t.co/IUTpCuzoSB pic.twitter.com/n2p3nftZ3G
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) May 28, 2025
His win rate? Just 40% — 17 successful trades out of 42.
This is a textbook example of crypto trading gone wrong, showing how leverage can take a trader from hero to zero in a heartbeat.
James Wynn Hyperliquid Losses. Source: Hyperdash
ETH whale lost $308M in one of crypto’s biggest liquidations
In March 2025, an anonymous ETH whale suffered one of the largest liquidations in crypto history — losing $308 million in a single trade.
The trader opened a 50x leveraged long position on ETH at $1,900, with a liquidation level of $1,877. Just a small move against the position would trigger a wipeout.
An Anonymous Trader’s 160,234 ETH Liquidation. Source: Hypurrscan
Global market fears caused ETH to dip. The trade was liquidated, erasing 160,234 ETH — worth over $308 million.
Worse, the whale had rotated all their Bitcoin holdings into this risky ETH bet, adding fuel to the fire. As Lookonchain put it: “Crazy! This whale switched all BTC longs to ETH.”
Crazy!
This whale has switched all of his long $BTC positions to long $ETH.
The current $ETH long position has reached 140,458 $ETH($269.8M)!
Entry price: $1,900.2
Liquidation price: $1,877
Unrealized profit: $2.92Mhttps://t.co/9Dcmxp86RF pic.twitter.com/k3W04tpXQ9— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) March 12, 2025
The wallet hasn’t opened any new trades on Hyperliquid since.
This is one of the clearest cases of crypto trading gone wrong, where leverage turned a minor market dip into a catastrophic loss.
For more on the risks of BTC’s market moves, read Bitcoin Risks Dropping Below $100K.
Hui Yi’s 100x leveraged loss ended in tragedy
Sometimes, the financial losses aren’t the worst outcome.
In June 2019, Chinese trader Hui Yi — co-founder and CEO of crypto analytics platform BTE.TOP — reportedly took his own life after a failed leveraged trade.
Yi had placed a 100x leveraged short position on 2,000 Bitcoins. That meant even tiny price moves could result in massive losses.
The market moved against Yi. His entire position collapsed. Rumors swirled that the 2,000 BTC might have been client funds. Some even speculated that Yi faked his death to avoid repayment. But no proof ever emerged.
An ex-partner later confirmed that Yi had indeed passed away.
This tragic case highlights the severe mental and emotional toll that crypto trading gone wrong can have on individuals. Excessive leverage is dangerous — not just financially, but psychologically.
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